Wave Speed Equation

A GoogleDoc is published that reflects these instructions. Click here, and make a copy of your own to work with!
Objective: To determine the relationship among wave speed, frequency, wavelength, and amplitude.
Procedure:

Go to: http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Wave_on_a_String and click Run Now.

1. Turn on the ruler and timer, set damping to zero and click the radio button for No End.

2. What happens to the speed of the wave as the tension slider is moved from high to low?

3. Use the ruler and timer to calculate the speed of the wave at high tension, low tension and in the middle.

	Distance	Time	Speed
High Tension
Low Tension
Medium (middle) Tension

4. Click on Oscillate—measure the wavelengths for each of the following while TENSION is set to HIGH. To measure wavelength hit pause and use the ruler.

Frequency	Amplitude	Wavelength
20	50
20	20
40	100
40	30
70	90
70	60

5. How does changing the frequency affect the wavelength?

6. How does changing the amplitude affect the wavelength?

7. Speed = Frequency x Wavelength. Can you prove this with your data? How?

Data: See tables above!

Analysis: Turn the answers from the questions above into a coherent paragraph (or a few!).


Thanks for sharing a version of this activity on the PhET web site: Christopher Cochran, Montgomery County Public Schools